Copyright & Publication Considerations for Dissertation Authors

Mimi Calter Assistant University Librarian & Chief of Staff SULAIR mcalter@stanford.edu

Why worry about copyright?

Managing copyright is an important part of any academic career and as such, every doctoral candidate must consider copyright In most cases, your dissertation will incorporate previously copyrighted material, and you must ensure that your reuse is legal Youll also be creating a copyrightable work, and want to consider carefully how you will manage your intellectual property

Copyright Contacts At Stanford

Stanford University Libraries


Mimi Calter: mcalter@stanford.edu , 650-725-5813

Stanford Office of the General Counsel



Lauren Schoenthaler: lks@stanford.edu, 650-723-9611

Using Copyrighted Material

Commonly, dissertations include material that was previously published by you or someone else When reusing copyrighted material, you must have explicit permission unless the use is considered a Fair Use under Section 107 of US Copyright Law Permission may be required to use your own work, if you assigned rights to a publisher If material was jointly published, you must ensure your co-authors are aware of the reuse

Fair Use
Permissible to reuse material without permission for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research 4 part test
    

What is the character of the use? What is the nature of the work to be used? What is the amount of the work to be used? Will the use negatively affect the value of the work? You can never be sure a use qualifies until you litigate

By design, not a hard and fast rule!

Fair Use in Practice

Using short quotations is generally a fair use Republishing charts, graphs, photos, art work, cartoons, or whole sections of a publication are more likely to require a license
 

If the dissertation itself is criticizing or analyzing the art work (chart, etc.), then possibly a fair use If the art work (chart, etc.) is serving the same purpose it did in the original publication (e.g., you are re-publishing data without commentary), then a license is probably necessary

Getting Permission
You will need to request from publishers for published materials, and archives or other sources for unpublished materials Sample permission letter available in the Registrars Office Dissertation Submission Guidelines  Third party redistribution rights are required for your dissertation to be posted outside of Stanford You will be asked to submit copies of your permission letters along with your dissertation!

Special Cases for Permission

If your dissertation includes recorded performances, or other photos or videos of individuals, youll need releases from those individuals or performers A sample release form can be found in the Registrars Office Dissertation Submission Guidelines

Managing your Copyright

When you submit your dissertation, you will be asked to choose among several distribution options, and several copyright licenses Consider your options carefully, particularly if you plan to republish all or part of your dissertation later None of the choices prohibits republication, but
 

Commercial publishers may have concerns about republishing material that is already available You must consider the terms of your licenses for materials you are reusing

Stanford License
If you submit your dissertation electronically, Stanford requires you to grant us a license to publish your material
 

You retain the copyright in your work The license allows Stanford to legally distribute your work

You may also choose to submit your dissertation in print through ProQuest


ProQuest will also require a license for distribution through their service

Text of Stanford License

In submitting a thesis or dissertation to Stanford, the Author grants The Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford) the non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable right to reproduce, distribute, display and transmit Author's thesis or dissertation, including any supplemental materials (the Work), . . . to sub-license others to do the same, and to preserve and protect the Work . . . .

Creative Commons License

The electronic submission system offers you the option of applying a Creative Commons license to your work CC licenses allow users to make specified reuses of your work without contacting you for permission CC licenses cannot be applied to material you have licensed, unless the license includes those rights Learn more about CC licenses at www.creativecommons.org

Embargos
You can choose to delay public release of your dissertation for up to two years Embargos apply only to external visibility


As with printed dissertations, electronic dissertations always remain accessible to Stanford students and faculty

Submitting and having your dissertation cataloged will be considered a public disclosure for patent purposes, even if you embargo your dissertation


Contact Stanford's Office of Technology Licensing at (650) 723-0651 or info@otlmail.stanford.edu for more information

Changes to Embargos
If you choose an embargo period of 6 months or 1 year during the initial submission and later wish to extend that embargo you must submit a HelpSU ticket to the Office of the Registrar no later than 4 weeks before your original embargo selection expires

20% View
In addition to an embargo, you can choose to make only 20% of your dissertation accessible through third party distributors It is not a sliding scale. Only choices are 20% and 100%

Changes to Visibility
You can change your external visibility from 20% to 100% at any time by submitting a HelpSU ticket to the Office of the Registrar Note that it is not possible to revert external visibility from 100% down to 20%

Group Work and Data Sets

Your dissertation may incorporate data or survey work from a lab or other group setting It is critical that you discuss your copyright and embargo choices with your PI and others in your lab or workgroup


The choices you make can impact the ability of others to publish.

It is important that you do not release material under a Creative Commons or other license where the lab or another group holds rights

Republication
If you do republish all or part of your dissertation, be sure that your publisher understands the licenses you have already granted

Registering Your Copyright

If you submit electronically, Stanford will not register your copyright on your behalf You can register yourself through the Copyright Offices website: www.copyright.gov/eco/ Registration is not required! Copyright is automatic when a document is fixed in a tangible medium Registration has advantages in the event of litigation

Learn more
Stanford Universitys Copyright Policy


http://www.stanford.edu/dept/DoR/rph/5-2.html http://fairuse.stanford.edu http://library.stanford.edu/libraries_collections/copyright_reminders includes information on how to seek permission http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/IntellectualProperty/cprtindx.htm by Kenneth Crews http://www.umi.com/en-US/products/dissertations/copyright/

SULAIRs Fair Use website



Stanford Universitys Annual Copyright Reminder

 

University of Texas Crash Course in Copyright



New Media, New Rights and Your Dissertation